Musical Monday: Cover songs #17

Posted on 24/04/2023 by

17 Comments

I started 2023 with a series of my favourite cover songs. It’s quite amazing how many artists cover one another’s songs. Can you guess what unites US crooner Andy Williams and ska specialists The English Beat?

While many of their 2-Tone Records contemporaries like The Specials and Madness took pains to cover classic ska sides to establish their bona fides, The English Beat took a different tack, embracing easy listening schmaltz with the same fervour as the reggae artists that inspired them.

Hence, the group was able to take a 1963 hit by crooner Andy Williams, Can’t Get Used to Losing You, tease out the romantic sentiments at its core, and turn it into something more slinky and spirited. It helps that the source material was created by the great songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and that their arrangement is so spare and open that it could be easily adapted for a rocksteady beat and Dave Wakeling’s blue-eyed soul vocalising.

Which version do you prefer? Let me know below.

Category: Favourites, MusicTags: , , ,

17 Comments on “Musical Monday: Cover songs #17”

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